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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Today is our quarterly appointment with our endo. Yay! and Boo! I love today so that I can fire off tons of questions that have been building up...I hate today because we find out if her A1C went up or down. I am not usually too worried about this except that we had a major change between visits by going from pump to MDI. Her numbers have been awesome this week but prior to this week they have been all over the place with no rhyme or reason.

Lily also has a dentist appointment to fill a cavity tomorrow. Her 2nd. I got my first and only cavity at 36 years old. My ex has great teeth. Abby has great teeth. None of us are drinking chocolate milk or juice at 3 AM without brushing afterwards though. So, I guess we chalk that up to the big D.

Lily also has an appointment scheduled with a dermatologist to find out if her arms will EVER heal from the pump sites. It looks eerily like eczema. But do you get eczema from adhesives? Is she having a skin reaction from alcohol? From the constant flow of insulin? Hmmm...

I have also scheduled an appointment with Dr. Peter Chase (THE diabetes guru, THE man who wrote the Pink Panther books we all love, THE principal investigator on the Artificial Pancreas Project, THE lead research dude for TrialNet, the father of a type 1, etc...) Can you tell I am totally excited? I met him when I went to the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes for work. I immediately asked him if he'd see Lily since they aren't accepting any out of town patients anymore (they are in Denver). He agreed and I just finished setting it up for March so I will certainly let everyone know how that turns out! We are seeing him, the CDE, a Social Worker and a Nutritionist. I wanted to experience all they had to offer. I spent an almost 8 hour day picking the brains of the folks behind the Barbara Davis Center and now I want them to look at my daughter and give me their opinions. My job here in Houston is to get our UT Physicians Type 1 Diabetes Center up and running and who else better to learn from than the best? A special thanks to the ex-in-laws for giving us the amazing gift!

So, exciting things are coming our way in the D world. Hopefully, we will get as many kinks worked out as we can. The only thing I feel is controllable about diabetes is the food you put in your mouth and the knowledge you choose to acquire.

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This is a chronicle of my journey as a woman and a mommy to three beautiful babies...two of which happen to have type 1 diabetes and one who does not. Simply put, my life is complicated. Hope you enjoy and can share in my struggles and triumphs!

What is Type 2? Type 2 Diabetes occurs when insulin that the body produces is less efficient at moving sugar out of the bloodstream. Some sugar is moved out of the blood, just not as effectively compared to a person with normal insulin efficiency. High blood sugars are a result of this. Diet, exercise, weight loss, and possible medications are the treatment for this type of diabetes. Occasionally, someone with Type 2 may be placed on insulin to better control blood sugars. This type of diabetes is associated with physical inactivity and obesity. Type 2 Diabetes used to be thought of as the adult onset type of diabetes. However, an alarming rate of children are now being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes (from http://www.diabetesplanner.com/).

What is a bolus?A bolus dose of insulin is the dose of regular or rapid-acting insulin that is injected to cover the food eaten in a meal or a snack (carbohydrates specifically).

What is basal insulin?The basal insulin is the “background” insulin, it works behind the scenes to cover daily functions such as breathing, heart rate, etc.

What is DOC or D-OC?Diabetes Online Community

What is PWD?Person With Diabetes

What is a D-Mom?Mother of a diabetic

What is the average range of numbers?This can vary by age but for Lily (7) it’s 80-160. Anything below 70 is low and must be treated with 15 grams of carbs. High for us is anything over around 250 and we give insulin to bring the number back down.

What is DKA?Diabetic ketoacidosis, aka DKA, is a serious complication of diabetes, which occurs when a very high blood sugar level (above 300 mg/dL) is coupled with a severe shortage of insulin in the body. This is more common in Type I diabetes because the body produces very little or no insulin on it's own. The body starts to break down fat for energy and ketones (toxic acids) develop. People with DKA usually complain of nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, rapid breathing, and sometimes a fruity odor on their breath. This can lead to coma or death and should be treated by medical personnel immediately (from http://www.about.com/).

What are ketones?Organic compounds that result when body fat is broken down for energy. Glucose is usually used by cells for energy. But, when there's no insulin to help it transport out of the blood and into the cells, the body has an "energy crisis" and starts to break down body fat into ketones as an alternative fuel source (from http://www.about.com/).

What is an A1C test?It is an average of blood sugars over a 2-3 month period of time and is used to determine how well diabetes is being managed. For dummies: The report card.